NYS Department of Labor

From the City of Batavia Police Department:

Reporting Unemployment Fraud

The Batavia Police Department has received many calls regarding unknown persons fraudulently filing for unemployment benefits in the name of citizens.

These cases are investigated directly by NYS Department of Labor – Office of Special Investigations and not by local law enforcement.

Citizens who are victims of this type are fraud are asked to contact the NYS Department of Labor at 1-888-598-2077 or online here.

Press release:

The New York State Department of Labor today announced that New York has paid nearly $1.9 billion in Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) benefits to 2.26 million New Yorkers this week, representing retroactive payments of $300 for the weeks ending Aug. 2nd, 9th and 16th.

In total, New York State has now paid $44.5 billion in benefits to New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic — representing more than 21 typical years’ worth of benefits paid in just six months. 

In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved New York for the second and final round of LWA funding. This round of funding provides three additional weeks of Lost Wages Assistance benefits, paid retroactively for the weeks ending Aug. 23rd, Aug. 30th, and Sept. 6th. New Yorkers will begin to receive these payments next week.  

“Over the last six months, we have moved heaven and earth to connect millions of New Yorkers with their benefits, including nearly $1.9 billion in Lost Wages Assistance payments distributed just this week,” said State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. “While plagued with administrative roadblocks, the federal lost wages assistance program is now finally providing unemployed families with much needed support — and it is unconscionable for the Federal government to once again cut Americans off from this support.

"Leaders in Washington, D.C., must pass a comprehensive package that supports unemployed families and the state and local governments that are hurting from this pandemic. Anything less is simply unacceptable.” 

An estimated 2.3 million New Yorkers are eligible for the second round of LWA payments for the benefit weeks ending Aug. 23rd, Aug. 30th, and Sept. 6th. They include: 

• Approximately 2.1 million who are prequalified for the LWA program because they have previously indicated that their unemployment was connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. These New Yorkers will receive an email and text message informing them they are pre-qualified and do not need to take any further action.
   
• Approximately 157,000 who are eligible for one or more LWA payments for the weeks ending Aug. 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, and/or Sept. 6^th but have not submitted a certification indicating they are unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as required by the federal government. These New Yorkers have already received a secure DocuSign email from NYS DOL with a link to certify or can call 833-491-0632 to certify via automated phone system.

• Approximately 23,700 who are eligible for one or more LWA payments for the weeks ending Aug. 23rd, Aug. 30th or Sept. 6th but were not eligible for the earlier weeks’ payments because they were not unemployed during the first three weeks of August. These New Yorkers will receive a secure DocuSign email from NYS DOL on Sept. 18th with a link to certify or can call 833-491-0632 to certify via automated phone system. 

New Yorkers who are prequalified for the second round of LWA benefits or who must certify and submit their certification by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd, will receive their payments next week. Those who submit their certification at a later date will be paid on a rolling basis.

Press release:

The New York State Department of Labor today announced that the backlog of pending unemployment benefit applications has been reduced to 7,580 — representing major progress since an unprecedented crush of applications related to the COVID-19 pandemic flooded the DOL’s systems in March.

This universe of unprocessed applications includes those that are missing critical information and cannot be processed, duplicates, and abandoned claims.

Additionally, since the passage of the Federal CARES Act, 562,766 PUA applicants have received unemployment benefits.

In total, more than 2 million unemployment benefit applications have been processed, and those New Yorkers have received more than $10 billion in benefits.

“No one could have predicted the wave of unemployment applications that crashed over the United States because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and every state is struggling — but New York has moved faster than any other state to address our backlog and get money into New Yorkers’ hands,"  said NYS Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon.

"To date, we have paid out over $10 billion dollars during this crisis, compared to just $2.1 billion in total last year. Those claims that have been outstanding for weeks are ones that we simply cannot process — we have already attempted to contact all of these New Yorkers, and we will continue to try get in touch with everyone who applied so we can connect them with the benefits they are eligible for.”

The numbers for applications submitted before April 22, 2020:

• 1,194,933: Paid
• 20,801: Not Paid – Need certification
• 7,580: Not Paid – Partial claims, missing information needed to process

Over the weekend, the Department of Labor analyzed the outcome of applications that were filed on or before April 22nd in an effort to quantify the size of the unemployment benefit backlog. This analysis found that 7,580 applications filed before that date had not been processed.

The DOL is unable to process these applications because they either contained incorrect or missing information, are duplicates, or had been abandoned by the claimant. The Department of Labor has attempted to contact all of these New Yorkers and will continue trying to reach them to complete their application or close out their claim.

Examples of missing or incorrect information that prevents an application from being processed include a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) and address for an individual’s former employer or an applicant’s Social Security Number.

Last month, the Department of Labor issued a directive reminding New York-based businesses they have a legal obligation to provide unemployed New Yorkers with the information they need to apply for benefits, including the company’s FEIN and address.

Another 15,831 applications are going through final processing — which includes a check for fraud and identity theft. These claims will either become payable in the coming days or be flagged for additional review by anti-fraud specialists.

In addition, applications for 20,801 New Yorkers who applied before April 22nd have been processed but not paid because those individuals have not submitted federally mandated weekly certifications. By law, these certifications must be submitted before benefits are released.

The Department of Labor has proactively emailed hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers reminding them to submit certifications and rolled out a new, secure online system that allows New Yorkers to easily submit prior weeks’ certifications that they had missed.

More than 330,000 New Yorkers have used this new system to unlock more than $400 million in prior weeks’ benefits they had effectively left on the table.

Finally, the Department of Labor has also launched a new system that proactively and directly communicates the status of an individual’s unemployment insurance application via text and email. Since this system rolled out, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have received messages letting them know their application has been received, is being processed, and has become a payable claim.

Press release:

The New York State Department of Labor today announced that in just over a month, more than 330,000 New Yorkers have been approved for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program, which provides unemployment benefits to individuals who do not qualify for traditional unemployment insurance.

In total, the Department of Labor has now paid $7.4 billion in unemployment benefits to New Yorkers since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March — three-and-a-half times the total paid in benefits last year.

In addition, the Department of Labor announced emergency measures to ensure unemployed New Yorkers who have been assessed forfeiture day penalties will receive benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. These actions, which suspend forfeiture days for the duration of the pandemic emergency, will allow more unemployed New Yorkers to receive financial support during this unprecedented crisis.

“Every state is facing a historic surge in unemployment claims and New York is no different, but we have moved faster and more aggressively than others to get beneficiaries their money, and in just over two months have paid out over three-and-a-half years’ worth of benefits,” NYS Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said.

“We know New Yorkers are struggling, and we know they need support now, and we are working day and night to get money into more New Yorkers’ hands faster — including through these emergency measures — and we will continue to provide the support people need to help them weather this unprecedented crisis.”

Created by the Federal CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27th, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program provides unemployment benefits to Americans who are not eligible for traditional unemployment insurance, including those who are self-employed, independent contractors, gig workers, farmers, and those who have other COVID-19 barriers to work.

The program’s implementation has faced multiple setbacks from the Federal government, including cumbersome guidance that required applicants to first apply for traditional unemployment insurance knowing they would be denied, receive a formal denial, and only then apply for PUA. In late April, that guidance was streamlined, and New York immediately launched an updated unemployment benefits application that allowed New Yorkers to seamlessly apply for either traditional unemployment insurance or PUA, depending on their eligibility.

New York State is now able to process PUA applications rapidly and has approved over 330,000 New Yorkers for this program. As part of the Department of Labor’s proactive communication efforts, these New Yorkers are receiving emails and text messages to inform them that their applications have been approved and remind them to certify weekly to continue receiving benefits.

Looking to cut through the red tape, the New York State Department of Labor is starting what Commissioner Roberta Reardon terms a “streamlined process” to allow those who missed unemployment benefits because the certification process was not completed.

Reardon, addressing the news media by telephone this afternoon, said the agency is taking steps to get benefits to nearly a half million New York residents who failed to submit the federally mandated certifications along with the applications.

“Today, I am announcing that we will be launching a streamlined process for New Yorkers to submit previous week certifications online,” she said. “As part of this new process, we will directly email New Yorkers with missing certification from previous weeks to inform them of the situation and we will include in that email a secure form that they can use to submit their information – which we will verify, process and pay.”

The commissioner said the DOL has identified more than 470,000 New Yorkers with “completed, processed and payable unemployment benefit applications who did not submit certifications in previous weeks, effectively leaving their money on the table.”

This amounted to more than 697,000 missed certifications, she said, that, if received, would have totaled approximately $480 million in benefits.

“No one should miss out on their benefits because of red tape, including these federally mandated weekly certifications,” she said.

Reardon said the agency previously emailed 90,000 New Yorkers who had completed and processed claims but did not received funds due to an accompanying certification. Those with no email address would receive a phone call or, as a last resort, a letter in the mail.

She said that going forward, the fastest way to file is online by going to www.labor.ny.gov/signin.

Reardon also said the DOL will be releasing a “fact sheet” to inform people of their claim status.

“Many people have seen 'pending' as their status for far too long and I understand the anxiety that this can cause,” she said. “When you don’t know where you are in the process or why you are there, you feel powerless. This new resource will outline the main reasons why someone’s claim may be pending, so you can have a better sense of the work we are doing to process your application.”

Statistically, more than 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance since the COVID-19 crisis began, including 1.6 million New Yorkers, Reardon said. As of today, the NYS DOL has paid $5.8 billion in unemployment benefits as a result of the pandemic.

“For context, we paid out $2.14 billion in unemployment benefits during the entirety of 2019,” she said. “That means in just two months we have paid out nearly three times the total level of benefits that we paid all last year.”

Press release:

The New York State Department of Labor today announced that it had distributed more than $4.6 billion in unemployment benefits since the coronavirus pandemic began impacting businesses in early March.

In total, the DOL has processed more than 1.6 million completed applications or unemployment benefits since March 9th, including for both traditional unemployment insurance and the new COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

“In New York, we are working faster and more aggressively to deliver unemployment benefits than many other states, and in a matter of weeks, we have paid more than $4.6 billion to well over a million New Yorkers,” NYS Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said.“We have been throwing everything — including the kitchen sink — at upgrading our systems and increasing our capacity to serve New Yorkers, and we will continue this work until everyone receives their benefits.”

Since coronavirus-related shutdowns began impacting businesses across the country in March, states have faced an unprecedented number of new unemployment insurance applications. To date, more than 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits through the week ending April 25th.

The volume of new unemployment claims has reached historic levels, including setting a record for the highest number of weekly claims filed nationwide for the week ending March 28th, which saw 6.8 million new claims -- compared to the previous high before this crisis of 695,000 claims during one week in October 1982.

Completed unemployment benefit applications for 1.6 million New Yorkers have been processed since this crisis began -- including 222,040 new claims from the week ending April 25.

In total, New York State has distributed over $4.6 billion in benefits to New Yorkers between March 9 and April 30, including through traditional unemployment insurance and new federal programs like Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides benefits for those not covered by traditional unemployment insurance; Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which provides an additional $600 per week for all benefit recipients; and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which provides 13 additional weeks of benefits, for a total of 39 weeks of unemployment benefits.

Facing an unprecedented surge in unemployment claims and a large number of partially complete claims with missing or incomplete Federal Employer Identification Numbers, which require a phone call to complete, the Department of Labor has taken decisive action to update its system, streamline operations, and improve its capacity to serve New Yorkers. These efforts include:

• Issuing a directive requiring New York-based employers to provide New Yorkers with the information they need to apply for unemployment benefits, including the company’s Federal Employer Identification Number;
   
• Launching a new, streamlined website backed by Google Cloud's infrastructure, which can automatically scale to meet demand and rolling out an updated application that allows New Yorkers to seamlessly apply for either traditional unemployment insurance or the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in one system — well before many other states launched their PUA applications;
   
• Undertaking a major call back initiative to proactively call New Yorkers with partially completed applications and obtain the information needed to process their claims. To date, the DOL has made more than 670,000 proactive calls;
   
• Increasing the number of Department of Labor representatives handling calls and processing applications from 400 people working five days a week to up to 3,100 individuals working seven days a week; and
   
• Being among the first states to release the additional $600 weekly payments to unemployed individuals -- even before the federal government made funding available.

The New York State Department of Labor today announced that it has distributed $3.1 billion in unemployment benefits to New Yorkers since the coronavirus pandemic started impacting New York businesses in early March.

In total, more than 1.4 million New Yorkers have submitted completed applications for unemployment benefits since the crisis began, including traditional unemployment insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

“Every state is facing major challenges when it comes to unemployment, but in New York we are upgrading our systems in real time while delivering benefits to New Yorkers faster and more aggressively than any other state,” said NYS Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon.

“I’ve been unemployed myself — I know that losing your job is one of the most trying situations someone can face — and while there is more work to do, we have connected over one million New Yorkers with billions of dollars in benefits in just six weeks. We will keep working around the clock seven days a week to ensure every single New Yorker gets every single dollar they deserve."

In addition, the Department of Labor has updated and streamlined the sections of its website most frequently used by New Yorkers seeking unemployment benefits. These updated pages -- which include the DOL homepage, an explanation of how to file your claim, information on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, and more -- are now mobile friendly and easier to read and navigate, which will help unemployed New Yorkers get the information they need faster so they can file for benefits.

Since nationwide coronavirus-related business shutdowns in early March, states across the country have faced an unprecedented increase in the number of people filing for unemployment insurance — with an extraordinary 26 million Americans now having submitted claims. Since March 9, New York State has processed 1.4 million initial applications for unemployment benefits, including 207,172 during the week ending April 18 and 399,015 the week before.

Between March 9 and April 22, New York State has distributed $3.1 billion to support New Yorkers who lost their jobs. This level of relief far outstrips what has been provided by other large states during this crisis.

The total includes traditional unemployment insurance and new federal programs like Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides benefits for those not covered by traditional unemployment insurance; Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which provides an additional $600 per week for all benefit recipients; and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which provides 13 additional weeks of benefits, for a total of 39 weeks of unemployment benefits.

Facing an unprecedented surge in unemployment claims, the Department of Labor has taken decisive action to update its system, streamline operations, and improve its capacity to serve New Yorkers. These efforts include:

• Launching a new, streamlined website backed by Google Cloud’s infrastructure, which can automatically scale to meet demand;
   
• Undertaking a major call back initiative to proactively call New Yorkers with partially-completed applications and obtain the information needed to process their claims. To date, the DOL has made more than 625,000 proactive calls;
   
• Increasing the number of Department of Labor representatives handling calls and processing applications from 400 people working five days a week to up to 3,100 individuals working seven days a week;
   
• Rolling out a streamlined online application, which allows New Yorkers to seamlessly apply for either traditional unemployment insurance or the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in one system; and
   
• Being among the first states to release the additional $600 weekly payments to unemployed individuals — even before the federal government made funding available.

Press release:

The New York State Department of Labor today announced the launch of a new application for New Yorkers to apply for traditional Unemployment Insurance or the new COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. This one-stop-shop for unemployment benefits will connect New Yorkers with the benefits they deserve faster, without requiring them to call the Department of Labor.

Prior to today, due to cumbersome federal guidelines, New Yorkers were required to apply for regular Unemployment Insurance and be rejected before applying for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. With this new application, which aligns with updated federal policy, New Yorkers will be able to simply fill out one form to get the correct benefits.

In conjunction with this morning’s rollout of the improved application, DOL has been deploying over 3,100 representatives solely dedicated to answering unemployment benefit needs seven days a week. This is up from 400 who previously manned the DOL call center prior to the pandemic.

Since the COVID-19 crisis began, DOL has paid approximately $2.2 billion in Unemployment Insurance benefits to 1.1 million New Yorkers. The application call backlog prior to April 8 has been reduced to 4,305 from 275,000.

“I have been unemployed before myself, and I understand the pain, fear and anxiety New Yorkers are facing. The DOL’s mission is to help our neighbors through some of their toughest days, and in the last week we have made great strides in updating our systems,” NYS Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said.

“While it appears the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to stabilize — at least from the public health perspective — we know that many New Yorkers are still facing an uncertain economic future, and the Department of Labor will continue to dedicate every resource available to helping New Yorkers weather this storm.”

The updated unemployment benefits application system, available here, will determine which unemployment program — unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance — New Yorkers should apply for and then prompt them to answer a specific set of questions. The application builds on the new online system the department rolled out on Friday, April 10th, in partnership with the State Office of Information Technology Services and Google Cloud, to help manage the exponential and unprecedented increase in new claims resulting from the ‎COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which was included in the Federal CARES Act, provides unemployment benefits for individuals who are ineligible for traditional unemployment insurance. Examples of those covered by PUA include:

• Self-employed New Yorkers;
• Independent contractors;
• New Yorkers who worked for an app-based company (i.e. “gig workers”)
• Farmers;
• Those diagnosed with COVID-19 or who have COVID-19 symptoms and are seeking a diagnosis;
• Those living with a household member who has been diagnosed with COVID-19;
• Those providing care for a family or household member diagnosed with COVID-19;
• A primary caregiver for a child unable to attend school or another facility due to COVID-19;
• Those unable to reach their place of employment due to an imposed quarantine or because they have been advised by a medical provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19;
• Those scheduled to commence new employment that cannot reach their workplace as a direct result of COVID-19;
• Those who became a major breadwinner because the head of their household died from COVID-19;
• Those who quit their job as a direct result of COVID-19;
• Those whose place of employment closed as a direct result of COVID-19;
• Those with insufficient work history and affected by COVID-19; and
• New Yorkers otherwise not qualified for regular or extended UI benefits and affected by COVID-19

In addition, New Yorkers concerned about food insecurity are reminded that resources are available across the state. Anyone looking for assistance can find a local food bank, including those supported by New York State, by visiting Feeding America's website here.

The New York State Department of Labor is dedicated to ensuring that every New Yorker who is entitled to unemployment insurance benefits will receive all benefits due. New Yorkers seeking to file an unemployment insurance claim should visit labor.ny.gov or call the Telephone Claim Center at (888) 209-8124. Below are some resources that will assist New Yorkers in filing their claims:

Fact sheet on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

 Update: 4:30 p.m.

From Deanna Cohen: Today by noon, we had 206,080 logins to our website and 159,000 calls.

---------------

The New York State Department of Labor’s staff is being stretched to the limit – and beyond – as thousands of displaced and laid off workers are filing for unemployment benefits.

“Currently, our New York State Department of Labor website is averaging 250,000 logins per day -- a 400 percent increase over the normal average – and we’re seeing over a 1000 percent increase in claims in some areas across the state,” Deanna Cohen, NYS Department of Labor deputy director of communications, told The Batavian this afternoon.

Cohen said the agency is taking major steps to address what she called “this unprecedented increase.”

“We have added server capacity, bandwidth, and dedicated more than 700 staff members to address the influx,” she said, noting that on Tuesday the department received 75,000 calls – about 65,000 more than the number of calls received on an average day. “We are also hiring an additional 65 plus more individuals to address the surge and will be hiring more as we are able.”

She made it a point to say that all New Yorkers will get the benefits they are entitled to; even if they file next week, they will receive their FULL benefit back to the date of unemployment.

Cohen said readers should be aware of the federal government’s enactment of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which includes extended unemployment benefits.

“New Yorkers do not need to do anything new -- if the state qualifies for extended benefits, those benefits will be provided automatically,” she reported. “So if individuals are calling with questions about extended unemployment insurance benefits, they should hang up and go to our website at www.labor.ny.gov for more information. This will help keep these phone lines available for their fellow New Yorkers who need to file new claims.”